SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — One person has endorsed Sean Snyder to become the next football coach at Kansas State.

That happens to be the man whose opinion on the matter should carry more weight than anyone, Bill Snyder.

On Wednesday at a news conference leading into the Fiesta Bowl, I asked Bill about when he approached Sean about being the next coach.

Predictably, Snyder did not want to get into details. Understandable, I suppose, with K-State completing preparations for its game Thursday against Oregon.

“That’s not something I’m going to get into right here,’’ he said. “Nobody knows Kansas State’s football program better than Sean does. He has been in it longer than I have. He knows it from top to bottom better than I do.’’

That was all.

Afterward, members of K-State’s public relations team chastised me for asking the question. Fine. They’re paid to protect the athletic department from anything controversial. I’m paid to ask.

I was particularly curious how Bill would address the issue in a public setting. Even more curious why he wants Sean, 43, to follow him.

I provided Bill a forum in case he chose to use it. He declined. I get it. The whole matter is rather prickly.

Sean’s background on the K-State staff is mostly in football operations. He has coached the last two seasons and does not oversee a position group. Instead, Sean coordinates special teams.

The job he does is thorough. Darn good, actually. Returns get broken for big gains. Punts pin opponents deep. Placekicks are accurate. Some problems surface covering kickoffs, but for the most part K-State’s speciality units are top-notch.

Yet the time those units spend on the field is minimal compared with offense and defense. Conversely, one of the reasons K-State has been wildly successful under Bill is because he does not minimize the attention placed on special teams. He is keenly aware how much special teams can impact field position and momentum.

Of course, this is also about family. Sean’s promotion to head coach would keep Bill deeply involved and invested in K-State football.

Yet the head coaching title would belong to somebody else. Already, we have seen that stepping into those trademark Nike Cortez shoes Bill prefers will not be easy. Perhaps even more difficult for someone with the same bloodlines.

“They’re big, yes. It’s a monumental task to follow Dad, yes,’’ Sean said. “But he’s going to be there every day. He’s going to be supportive, he’s going to help guide, he’s going to help direct. For somebody who’s done what he’s done here, to scratch all of it, I think is where it gets to be complicated. Kansas State is a special place, and it’s a little bit of a different place.’’

Following a father’s legacy is a task layered with a double-edge.

“If there’s something that needs to be asked, he’s there,’’ Sean said. “With everything I’ve done, there’s always been a challenge to it. I’ve been under what is like a coach’s kid’s umbrella, as are other guys around the country who are coaching with their dads. It’s something I think about, but then I don’t, because it’s something I’ve been around when I was a punter, when I was in football operations and from the time I got on the field coaching.’’

If this succession were to happen, the search would not be national. It would be down home. Inside a stadium that happens to bear the family name.

That does not appeal to some who follow K-State and have delighted in its rise to national prominence. The feeling could even extend to the K-State administration, particularly if it wants to conduct a search for a proven head coach.

Thing is, Bill has not indicated yet that he wants to go anywhere, even if it happened to only be down the hall if Sean took over.

“The good thing is, I think he is enjoying what he is doing a different way,’’ Sean said. “It’s just the approach. I think he is just doing what he loves to do now.

“Before, he loved doing things, but everything was such a mountain. And anymore, I don’t think that mountain’s there that he feels like he has to climb every day. So it makes it more enjoyable for him.’’

How long does Bill keep doing it? I get asked that question seemingly every day. Bill gets asked a lot too, sometimes by guys like me who pry into things he does not care to divulge.

Based on the Big 12 championship run the Wildcats enjoyed this year, when they ascended, briefly, to the No. 1 spot in the BCS standings, it’s understandable if Snyder retired again after the Fiesta Bowl. Hey, he happens to also be 73.

However, the only indication from Bill that he may want to step down was his pitch for Sean to be the next K-State coach. No timeline was offered, and Sean wasn’t about to predict his father’s future intentions.

“I don’t know. I think it will boil down to when it feels right. That’s the only thing I can think of,’’ Sean said.

When the time comes, there will be a lot to think of. Bill will state his case for Sean. Not so much publicly, but to the people authorized to make the next hire.

I like Sean. I grasp his organizational qualifications, but not his coaching qualifications. Bill apparently sees both.

If this title run to the Fiesta Bowl confirms anything, it’s that Bill Snyder should be allowed to present his future vision for K-State football. He deserves to be heard.

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I understand the feeling that the majority of people I've talked to have about Sean Snyder following Coach Bill Snyder. But I have only this to say. After all that this man has accomplished, why question his judgement on anything? End of statement.

Shame on you Kevin Haskin and the Topeka Capital-Journal! Why would you want to try and stir the pot before one of the biggest football games in K-State (and our state’s) history? Why try and set up a distraction for our team? Let Oregon and their fans worry about losing their coach – not K-State. Not at this time. This is irresponsible journalism – pure and simple. (Yes, I have a journalism degree and I know the difference.) You aren’t paid to be down in Scottsdale to try and create controversy – you are paid to cover the game. The K-State Athletic Department’s public relations team was right to chastise you and I hope you’ll receive the same treatment from your editors when you return home.

You can always hire offensive and defensive coordinators. I want someone with vision running this show, like Sean's dad. I say give Sean a shot. He'd have to bust his hiney to be as bad as Prince, and he already knows the culture and likes it here. I don't want someone coming in who bolts in 4 years for greener pastures.

Lighten up, Francis. "Stirring the pot?" Really? Coach Snyder's a big boy. If you think this simple question distracts him or the team, or that it disparages the coach, then you don't think very highly of your coach or your team.

It's a tough situation. I don't think Sean Snyder is in any way, shape or form qualified to run a BCS conference football program. By the same token, look at what happened last time Coach Snyder's opinion was disregarded: Bob Krause pretended he was a bigtime athletic director and hired an abject failure.

Now is not the time to be talking about who will succeed Snyder. Why bring this up right now. Lets focus on the game. Snyder has not made statements about retiring. Usually I enjoy Haskin's columns but not this one.

YOU LOVE GUYS?!?!?!?

It's obvious why you KSUcks fans don't want it brought up, look what happened last time. I mean, your football program is suppose to be so successful and the greatest thing on earth and the best you could hire was Ron Prince. K State football is only a big deal in this state, it's not a place coaches want to come to,even now with all the "success". It's a legitimate question to ask, the guy is old. Sean Snyder would be a great hire. Hahahahahaha. Not.

I am not looking to stir the pot ..... not sure what kind of head coach Sean Snyder would be. Can anyone name a sitiuation where son has followed father who was a legend and it worked out well? The only situation I am familiar with is with Bob Knight's son Pat, and that didn't end well. I just wonder about the pressure of following father who is a legend there. How many successful head coaches in college football were not a coordinator first?

How soon will the fans turn on him if KSU has a bad year? A tremendous amount of pressure when following a legend at a university .... I think it would add even more when it is your father.

That was important, but the biggest key to Weber's hire was that Currie knew he would never, ever violate or even come close to thinking about bending an NCAA rule. This is also going to be one of the biggest keys to why Kansas State fans had better be happy with 21-10 and a fifth place finish in the Big 12 every year on Squeaky's watch.

Corectomundo! Currie's primary consideration was integrity, and with Weber he definitely got that. Currie simply does NOT have any use for NCAA investigative drama, and that is certainly understandable.

K-State will finish 2nd or 3rd in a watered down conference. And oh Ya We will beat the Jayhawks at Bramlage provding we have a healthy team when they play.....

Weber had a lot of success at SIU before he was at Illinois. It all hinges on recruiting. If weber can recruit K-State will conitnue to be in the top 3 of the Big 12. Hell compared to where we have been in the past being in the upper echlon of the Big 12 every year is an improvement.

We wouldn't want Weiss. He has never been a winning head coach anywere he has coached.
Patterson probably wound't want to leave. But Venables might be a good option. Isn't there any more Stoops boys? How about Chuck Long (asst with Sooners)?

There are a lot of option out there for KSU but hopefully Snyder has about three to four years left.

Venables' defenses at Clemson have been really awful (a big win a few nights ago against LSU notwithstanding). Stoops never trusted him with full control of the defense, and jumped at the chance to bring his brother back. I'd be leery of Venables.

KSU Wildcats football-11-1 record, Big 12 Champions, and a BCS Fiesta bowl bid! National Coach of the year candidate as well as Heisman candidate..

As you can see, it is easy for KU fans and Chiefs fans, and just plain anti-Kstate fans to be upset. You will be a miserable person like Dinglebells living in this area win KC and KU combine for 3 wins in football this season. I understand, look at Kstate bball.

But let it go, and root for the only team that can represent the Midwest as the dominant football power in a BCS bowl, or be miserable like Dinglebells. Your choice

The worse thing a program can do is let an outgoing coach name his successor. It almost always fails. You can add Ray Meyer and son at DePaul as another father son failure.
K-Staters should never forget Lon Kruger pretty much naming Dana Altman as his successor. Despite Altman's eventual success he was not big time ready at that point.

computer for Christmas and is trying out his new fonts.
As for the story ... I am not sure I understand what the fuss is about. I can assure you Snyder is not reading the newspaper.
I don't like K-State, but it is Snyder's school and he gets to do whatever he wants.